Norwood runner raisers more than $18k for charity

Thursday

Apr 24, 2014 at 9:00 AM

By Brad Colebcole@wickedlocal.com

Running in honor of her parents, who both succumbed to cancer, Norwood runner Christine Moynihan raised over $18,000 for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to run in Monday’s Boston Marathon.Moynihan finished with a time of 4:28:09, her best time yet."I ran by one million people. It was excellent to see the people come out, from Hopkinton to Boston. It was an incredible experience," she said.This was Moynihan’s first Boston Marathon since 2011, though she had planned to run last year."I was supposed to run in the marathon last year. I was signed up and ready to go, but pulled out," Moynihan said. "After the bombing, I knew I had to come back. I had unfinished business. I ran this year in honor of my mom and dad."Both her parents, Jack and Josephine Moynihan, passed away after a battle with caner. Josephine died in 2008, while Jack died in October 2012. Shortly after her mother’s death, Moynihan began training with the goal of running the Boston Marathon in her honor. She did just that in 2010, when she finished with a time of 4:50. This was her previous fastest time. She went into 2014 with the goal of setting a new personal best."My goal was to finish under 4:30, and I got under that with a time of 4:28," Moynihan said. "I think the way I approached training, with a lot more strength training and a focus on circuit training, helped. There is a lot more that goes into it than putting on sneakers and running."As a charity runner, Moynihan raced with over 700 teammates on the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team. This is her third year running with the team."It feels like the first one all over again," Moynihan saidShe trained with the challenge team under coach Jack Fultz, who won the 1976 Boston Marathon. He created some training programs for the team, and training ramped up the week before Christmas. Moynihan said she did one longer run each weekend, usually running 10 to 15 miles, to prepare for the race, in addition to shorter runs and other exercise routines."Eighteen weeks later, here we go," Moynihan said.Being a charity runner, she was tasked with raising money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The team aimed to raise $5.3 million for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute."We raised over $6 million. We really crushed that mark," Moynihan said, adding that donations are still coming come in.Moynihan did her part, raising $18,501, exceeding her personal goal of $15,000. This is her fundraising high for her, as she raised approximately $11,000 in 2010 and 2011."Dana-Farber is one of the few charities where 100 percent of donations go to their research program. I thought it would be a good charity to race for in (Josephine’s) honor," Moynihan said.The funds raised are donated to the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research. The program supports researchers and scientists in the fields of molecular genetics, biology, biochemistry and epidemiology.Staff writer Brad Cole can be reached at 781-433-8339 or bcole@wickedlocal.com. Like The Norwood Transcript and Bulletin on Facebook and follow @bradcolewrites and @NorwoodTranscri on Twitter.